Cheshire

Chapter 10

"From now on, if anyone makes contact, they are to call for backup immediately before proceeding."

Cheshire's POV

It's been three days since arriving at the new place and kicking Captain America's ass (again) and I find myself quite comfortable here. That may have to do with the fact that I have not left this room since SHIELD and the Avengers have been after me, but who knows. I know I pissed them off after the break in, but they're really having a hissy fit over a stabbed leg? It's not like I killed him. I mean, why waste the energy?

I'm actually getting really bored. I was able to find a dollar store close by for food, but that's the farthest I'm willing to go. It's too risky to do anything else so all I can do is hope this ends soon. I haven't seen Banner or Stark anywhere, so I assume they're at the tower. They are probably just looking through security cameras.

If I were them, I'd look for places that have been abandoned or shut down. Places no one would go looking. That's why I chose this place. It's farther from my last place and the compound. It's still in their range, but no one would come looking here.

Okay okay, I'll tell you. It's a theater. There is a big dome at the top where they keep old props and stuff. No one comes up here, so it's perfect. It has a huge window with a fire escape that leads me to an alleyway and even a trap door for me to watch the shows. It's still early though and there aren't any on today. Pity.

You know, I'm getting pretty tired of these stupid Avengers. I just don't understand why they're going through all of this trouble. Running from Hydra is bad enough. But now SHIELD and the Avengers? I can't continue with my mission of finding the New York base if I can't go anywhere. It's not like I can just face them either. But maybe I can mess with them! Let them know who they're dealing with.

With this in mind, I pull out my computer and get to work. I've hacked into FRIDAY before; I can do it again. After a bit of fiddling, I'm in. Now I can see Tony and his lab through his webcam. I shut everything he is working on down and begin messaging him.

"Hello Mr. Stark. How are you?" I can see him panic and he calls Dr. Banner over.

"Bruce start tracing the message, I think it's her. Don't call anyone back yet though, we'll send them her coordinates."

"Well don't you sound confident. You really think I would be naive enough to contact you without using an untraceable software system?"

"Shit... she can hear us!" He says whispering.

"Indeed."

"She must have hacked into my webcam. But how? I built it myself!"

"Perhaps you should make some adjustments then because it was really quite simple. All I had to do was ride in through the Wi-Fi to your computer and hack into the attachments system."

"Alright then. But why take the risk of contacting me when you know you're being hunted?"

"To be honest, it's become quite boring not being able to leave my current living space. I have things to do, and I thought I told Fury to stay out of my way."

"Well, you've managed to dig yourself into a pretty deep hole messing with the Avengers let alone SHEILD. Trust me, we aren't taking this lightly so you can either turn yourself in or keep running."

"I've done just fine running before. What makes you all think you're so special? You're not heroes, you're fools."

"I think saving the world twice counts as heroism. And what about you? You think you are? You are nothing but a coward who hides behind a screen."

"You have no idea what I have accomplished on my own. I've come closer to taking down Hydra than any of you idiots and I'm not letting a bunch of wannabe superheroes ruin that."

"Cause you did such a good job with your last "mission". Tell me, what made you choke so bad that you forgot to blow up a building? I mean, it was a huge gain for us. Just the evidence we needed to realize you were the same person we've been looking for the past six months. All that running and hiding for nothing."

" Oh Tony, you don't know anything about me. Whatever you think you know I will always be one step, three steps, seven steps ahead of you. And just when you think you're catching up, that's when I'll be right behind you and at no time will you be anywhere other than exactly where I want you to be. So come close. Get all over me because the closer you think you are, the less you'll actually be. -Cheshire :) "

And with that, I sign off.

---

It is now Friday, meaning it has been another two days since I spoke to Tony and five since I've gone outside. I haven't seen any agents or Avengers since the day of our talk and I'm a bit... suspicious. Surely, they haven't given up that easily. I'm running out of food, but that's probably what they are waiting for. It's too far to teleport so I would have to go in person.

So, we're just going to go hungry because of a feeling?

Shut up! Every time we ignore our instincts something bad happens. Haven't we learned?

That's the fear talking. Haven't we also learned that fear is the enemy?

Fear keeps us alive.

Fear keeps us weak! Are you weak now?

No...

That's what I thought. Besides, we've handled those morons before. We'll be fine.

Before I can talk myself out of it, I put on my black skirt and turtleneck, grab my bag and make my way down the fire escape.

No turning back now.